A LOT OF PEOPLE THINKl!!

g
cnuNGE ROCK STARTED H
$
siArf lr, BUT tr REALLY
by Joe'!
sranTEo im oLYMPIA

I had gon6 do?m to salslr to interviev' l'lr'

irohrt Fahoy. H was living in the Oregon
Capitsol fr-, " nasty aort of welfare-hot61'
tlm.. r had spant a long hot day
"i-tu"
A.i.ri"s bi.m around, talklag' going through
the usod record Ehop routlne Ytith trim' and
we had wound up back at his place' I was
up
6istraccedly reading a book I'd picked
to
what
decide
to
trying
and
floor
the
off
of
intntion
th
wLt'h
dorra
tlol f trad cons
staylng a couple of, days, bUE there.Y'aa- no
*"y-r rr"" going to sleep 5'n -y "1t in the
p"hirtg 1oi as originally glanned' becauge
it rooiea genuiaaly dangeroua' Ee'd offered a
go let ms aleop on the f,Ioor' but clarirg
sgace would be a major undertaking' and
he'd nurmbled aoething about bugsi I
"ivrt"v,
*""ra't 3Ur whettte! h moaltt fleaa orwaa none
roachas, but th groapects of either
r couldn't afford a hot61
too tbrlllingroom, 3o r protty nu,rcb fLgured I wag heading
, *""-o't paying Erch attntion when he
i*".
r didn't
;ald he was going to rtaah utl' and sdnuts
f,w
a
asked'
hs
when
up
even look
sttorcs
later, if, I'd sean a paLr of, b1ack,he19
him
lying around. Ttln h asked ma t'o
iiJ-ui"
DaDtE, and r lookd up to bho1d$'ak
t"trrrra nude bulbositv- r still
irt-piJ
up screanl'ng.
Ttrat taa !y no moaD3 my only traumatic--lrh
tbo hands of Mr' Fah6y'
a
"r.p""i""""-at
lnierrriew r lranted to do came about as
of ignoring
iesuft of the f,lrst. Af,ter yearssee
him 91ay
and pasging up oPgortunitloE to
sbeer
(noetly
f,rour
araa
s;attle
iir" l" th;
iizinegg), I'd flnrlly sotten up th.
g"rrpif"rr-io t." htm do a strost at a ginceart-poec-soth club, opening for Nels
;i;;;
r gol there 1ats, and walked in to 20
;ii;;:
rrod"t way' Ther wre about
ifoa U"
""c
intantly' and a 1ots of,
list,ening
,""rf"
;;;;;
Dlavlng 9oo1 aad drinkiag'Heeerainglv
waB
oblivloue to !{r. Fahey'g rnr'rslc'knockod
out
and I waE
wel1,
raally
pi"Vf"g
-"
oo
up
turned
Iat'or
giece
that
iV f"rtg
iiitv oe-{"f,ug" But aomethiag eaemed off'
I'd never seeo him befor' r
"rr"tJtho.rgl
cherished a notion of, Mr'
19?0,
ti"."
u"i,
charming'
loquacioue,
FaheY as a
atage novol
intaile"trral wit, aad th man onpreg6$c
of
word or acklot'Idged the
;;i;
a
been
lravo
"
easily
could
tre
bie audiencei
anyone
uiitta t"t unavtar ir waE playing afor
young nan
at all. Aftr 30 Einutea or so'in hie ear'
*"ff."a on stage and whlspered

th tuoe he wag
Drr. Fahy nodded, f,iniehed
ghe
stage' I waE
off
pf"Vfin,-""a walked
but I v'a8 in a hurry' so I walkd

startled,
collidd with
out tb front door and alnroEtth-eidswalk
on
standing
the nran bimgelf,
,,P it th" gky witsh hig -shadeg
;; ;;til;
ialtetl f,or a couple of minutes'
ie
Itrri-"".
from feeling
mostly inanitiea, and I wentsgeectr
was elow
His
startled to dovaat'aEd'
drugged or
and elurredi be Eeemad hrmorleaa' 1'6 t'are
brain damagad or a@sthing' whila
a"irl"g, a f,rat-boy type walked-'p
"t1Fahov's
slroutsd at the si'de of, Drr'
ift"t"iiv
and he
head, 'You're a f,ucking icon iIohn"
he
haggened'
it
ae
waif'
didn't even f,linclr'
out.juaE
finding
of
wae gissed aa a result
getting
before tro went ott Ehat tre wasn't
arusglll
wa1
probablv
qre
ie
palq,
;;;-J
titn8, and
=..
a long lll-'
dtiatn'E knor', anY of t' at for
afterward'
for weeks
i-*"-a"pt"seed
.

Fahy! I 1ival in *Iains wtren I first beard

of ur- Fahey; I waa a ni1itary dependeat
vhose best friend had escaped the exile of
aa ahosts-Canada air baea and rDved to tlt
Bay aroa. Ee lowed tbe Gratoful Dead, but I
bought tstre first lp alrd did aot shar6 ttr
feeling. Ite loved Fahey, t'oo, and Falroy was
s@tshiDg I could aPpreciate. I waE alroady
iato caDDed ttat, attd when Fahey turrred up
oE rliwing tha Bluea', it aslred to confir:Itr
smetbing. I had discoverad Skip .,am8, tb6

greatest of blues siagera and guitarists, on

a 'Bluea at Newl)orts' Ip in tba base library'
Latr, crossing the courrtrlf on a nigbt!0arish
tlriwe with my brotber alad druakro fatsbr, r
hard oE tba radio of the dath of A1
wilson. Tbe thrada of my int6rest in Fahoy
started coaing together allnoat 30 yara ago,
but it waa cotrEaratiwely receBt1y tbat a few
last venta provokad in me a desire to Dat
ard tsa1h to tbe maa himse]-f.

Dakes one wish to Inset ths creator of

art oEe adrnires? woI1, I can only apak for
ryse1f , but, g6Doral1y, I doE't' r uaed
to-for ttro gaDa roaaona aa arryone, I
suppoa. lfhen orae trears mugic ttrat provokaa
cootion (wb.atevor it may tre), its ie
difficult not Eo sul)poae that tbe creator
Etse sttare your wiew of 1ife, or adns auch
idiocy; difficu1t, ttrat i3, unlegg ouo bag
bad tbe ex5rerience of speading Edn ti'Bs
rith the object of your adrairation' rt is
remarkable bor,r guickly orr calt be diEabuaed
of suctr si]']'inesg lry eubjecting oDself to
rronic, egotistical knuckLeheadsi aB a
'youth I thoughts doctor6, Iaw'yers, and
msiciaas nrlst lre geniuses' whatewor' I
xautsed tso moet ur- Fabey for reasous othor
tban loviDg bis trnrsic- ur- Fabey had beeD a
good friend of AI Wilson. ur- Eal1ey ]tad
.di,ecowered, Skip iIa8las, aad been
ioatrurnerrtal in 'rewiwiag' hia career, and
norr his on-Eimo friertd steDbea calt bad
publisbed a book about skip irauss ubiclt
preseDtsd a acatlriDg portrait of ur' E'abey's
iote ia tbat epiaode- !tr. Eahoy bad iacluded
a fu1I page pictur6, witb Do og'Lanation, of
walEer KaufrlaEa, urlr faworite philosophical
writer artd tiliotzsche trattslator, in an
amusiag book calld 'The Bst of iIoh.n Fahey
L95g-L977,, which I trad recotly coloe
across. ur. Eahey bad r69ortsed1y becoro a
christiaa in tb 7o'a- ur- Fabey had
reportadly becqre a menber of tbe Clrurcb of
Latter Day Sainta, that noBt exquisitely
dilntd of modero llairtatreas religiorra, in
tbo 8O's. !rr. fatrey had preaented lrimse1f to
rs aa goEcrone sbockingly unlika what l had
extrocted ia a ctrance encountor' whetl ur'
ilff SmiEb propoaed tbat I iatsrviaw ![r'
Pahsy for ebia Dagazine, it sounded like a
good idea to ttrs-

when r \dalked iDto hia ro@ ats tb orogoE

capitol Ian, rElr firat thought was that h6'd

been tnrrgled. Ihe floor was a foot deep in
debrig: books, racords, cda, food, papera,
rursical equilnrent. The bed vtaa pi16d vritlt
juak, and the headboard lined with
preecriptioa botstles. ur. rahay iDtroducad
EA to Itaudy, a guy in bis reid-2o'e giwen to
iBterruDtsing conweraationE witb
uaiatentionally am:aiag non sequitors like
the titl of this artic1e. Appareqt].y they
bad Dat. in a Union Gospel taission at a tiea
whor DIr. Fahey waa particularly dowa oa his
luck. RaDdly was surIy, stiff-ncked, alod
lacking aDy aettae of trunror. I was ;>uzzled by
h,ia proasncs u$til mrch later wtlen I
realized that he vtas tbre as r8ecuritY', ae
an arns1ioratiwe for litr. I,ahey's iaeecurity.
ws'II bawe no further truck lritb hi-m- Wa
talked about a 1ot of music tnrsinesa Etuff.
Ite had juat fiaished recording I cd with th
uDbarable cul do sac, alxd he had a 1ot to
say about t bat a horrible balld they rpsra and
wltat aE idiots trrit GleDn irones waa. I{e sDoke
witb vehenenc of big lratred for Dawid
crubbs, botsh tho matx aad his lauaic- ge
declaieed at leDgitb about vrttat an asgbole
Ray Farrell iB. E epoke wittt regret of tbe
badnesg of tbe recordinga of i*' ''t**'**,
wery rurch aad
bacaua he likes t*i *"tt**t
wigbes he liked bis Eusic urora- E
raminiscd arursedly about hia recoot tour
with {hurston Moor6, and the arager rburstorl
Moor diBplayed when Mr- Fahy adwieed bim
to atop trlriag so bard to be Dlr' Bi6 Jazz'
bcause it just wasn'ts workiug. Ee gaid he
didD't thiDk :rhurston Moore was maatally
retarded. (As arl aeida, a frisod of lAz soa
is studyiDg ltitb Charls Gayle and llilford
cravea at BDJlingrton. Appareatly Thurstoo
Moor6 has ben artxiously trying to arraage a
duo concert with himgalf atrd tshe great
uilford Graves, tnrt !rr- Graves says be is
not goiDg to giwe Thurstson Moore a booEt
Liko tbat tso his Ur. Fros ;tazz cacht,
bcaus he doean't deaerve its.) w talked
about a 1oc of other stuff that i8 o1d oews
rtorr, like Axrtouioni soundtracks aad
recordings vtith tb Red cra]'/o1a' 116
suggestod tshat we hire a prostitute to giwe
us blowjobs, and tban agreed that its $'asn't
ttrat great an idea-

iiouUfea ae a ieeults of cbildbood abuae. Ire

said that be ref,used to believe that he Aid
of a drug ovordosa, or b:f bis ot{a baad,
instead, he eaid ttrat ha knerc he had died
fr@ a cerebra]. heorrlrage- uo to1d De about
sittiag arouod at Eob ('a lrorrible,
disgnrsting Deraon') gite'E lroua aftor aIwilson was cr@ated, siftiag tlrrougb bie
ashes rcith big fingerg, finding weLrd sireg
and pieces of matal, evidence for hi3
suapicioaa tbat A1 wLlaon was et! all'ea'

Ibea I brougbt up skil) .faooa. I degcrl.bd

hor gleaeed I'd b66n to hear Skig oaEes
tbm6s iB 'Citsy of Rfuge', aud he said he
did.n't think aayoae would racognize then,
and naybe be ettould Bend aoms mony to
rLoew6r olraa the copyrights. I said that
vaaB't rea11y what I was gottiag at, but how
di.d he f6e1 about Stphen Calt's portrayal
of bin ag swariciously uotLvatod in his
dealinga with skip ilaDaa? lI aeeutd startled
tsbat tbat wae horr I had read t hat I thought
raa exSr]'icitly atated, aud deaied that it
uaa ev6r ttr6 caa. tIa gaid anyone who
tbought they could get rich off a bluea
singer would h.awe to have b6n crazy. Ee
said tlrat calt atil1 rea6Et6d b.iD bcause
Calt had ru:r off with Eahoy's Ytife wbile
Eahey waa ia the hogpital. uo deEcribed skip
aranes as a noiiilire,
irrogrant, rud.6 peraon
whose painful dath wae due him. I tri6d
talking with him about CaLt,e discuggioa of
'folk' rnrgics, but Ur. Paby lurttred about
niddle-c1ass college stude'rts DretDdiDg to
be hilIbilIieg
and Negro sharacroppra (ver
rronder rrhy he wore ttroE auits aad tiee in
the 60s?) fte waltr Kaufmann thing was sort of a
bqat, in that I had boped he actua1ly knew
th gnry, but as its turDd out he'd just sat
ia on a seruiaar Kaufltatrn gawe once, aad
admired bim gr6at1y, but had D.sver Det b.imE6 deaiod that be had ewer really been a
Christiaa, and he insiEted that ha had oaly
hung around tshe litorarona briefly bocause th
rrol[en vrsr good looking. It aoemed a little
re].uctaD't to discugg AI wilson, :(ceDt to
say that he was a geaius, and dp1y

I draggd out a cd I'd brought with ma, I'd

co&a acroaa it at lrork in th6 'tu.rsic'
.1ibrary', 'Christmas euitar with iloha
Lalrey,. It waa techaica1ly accoqrligbsd,
mraically correct, artLstLcally awf,uI
renditioaa of fabey-identif lod Christeas
aonga tbat did not at a1l apa hla atyler lt
was good for a fsw laughs. I loarlted to talk
to bim about his creative process, to
contraat him specifica]'1y with stefaa
erosamaD, bis urch l.ess iaterestiug and
involving contqrorary-I lruggeated tbats wbat
I aaw aa croasaatr'a mgchanietLc, sut-aDde apgroach to incorgoratlag th@63 fr@
blues&n Lnto curiouely bloodlesa tuttes
was iu dramatic opposition to bl,B ora
organic, eubconscioug aDgroach; hia resgonse
eras a fart troiso at each msntioa of, st6faa'8
nams. E l>lugged in aa electric gtuitar arrd
gav lra a heawily rewerbgd d@oDstratioa of
sma Skip ilamas chord8, and thea played
'aluana', ttr6 overrrhelningly beautlfu]. tuue
I'd h6ard hin play in O114>ia a ft rcotba
bof,or.

,ff'

E6 said b.e waa tirod and wa.at6d to sle65r,

aad I got off the bd so be cou1d lie dor*a.
!{ coatinued ta1king; ttr. Faby has eyas
that. aro both poEetratitng a.Dd stra.agely weak

in tbeir gaze, and he starod irltutly at De

as he told D6 of th fruatration of beiDg
pursued for mor6 tftao 30 yara by peop1 who
thougbt b.e waa a gunr of sme aort, t,eoI,16
who thoughts tbeir @otional reapoase to his
mlaic e6ant that he had s@ething to t61I
them, peoDle wbo waDted s@otbiDg fron him
tbat ha didn,t hawe and dida,t waDt to give
tb6B. He didD,t utlder8tarrd rlItrat geol)le were
talking about wb.ea th6y trid to telL him
how his old ursic tl8de thu fe6]' and rrbat
they thought it msant. IIe hated his o1d
ureic, he wauted to do aorratl,.ing different
anld b wanted people to be iatoreatod irt it.
Ee said ltis reDutation ag a DisaDthroDe vras
all rrroug, be juat coul,tn,t staad being
arouad stupid peoI)le, he needed to lre aroutld.
iatolligDt, sti-mrlating geogle. I listeDed
to him aDd I felt diaoriented aEd, at a
cqr1et lrotioDal 1oas. I rrasD.,t sura if h
waa tl].ing ma tb6a6 things bocauE he
thought aa a lrErsic rrritr, I could make
tlr@ kDda/a to th6 widar world (he 86@sd to
hawe a graodiose notsion of what I rnight be:
h,d s66a a cogy of the magazine, I had
exp1aiued to him tlr siz6 of tho print run,
but ewea after that he,d been surpriaed wbeD
I,d had to tal1 him tbat I had a fulltirm
jol, aad waatrit oa aD errpens account)
I
wondered if he just. needed to va,t his
frustsratLoaa to a rreutral observer. I found
aft6r sgendj.tlg the day with him that I ].iked
hiu very urcft- IIe rrae iatelligoDt and vritty;
he wa.E a good talker. For all I knew, h6
1iked ars too and was saying thes things as
, arr orrture to friendghip.
I hawe been
I accuaed of
being a co1d, @otion1eas pod or
a robot, or 6vtt of being of rnglish
anceatry, but I didD,,t kaow w]rat he ima!.t,
(it,s always Srossible that be Doaat just.
what h was sayiag) and f didn,t krro"n .Uc,or,
to r6spot:.d. nl,m vry 1on1y,,, be said.
slluah,, I said.
II
rw wore

in relat.ively frequnt coa.tact over

itb.e Dext few Dontb.a. Oae [ight b ca116d at
about 1:OO A!r; b6 told me be was getting
rmarried th a'ext week, and waatd to kaorr if
, f could c@r dorr! for the wddiDg- Ee,d beeo
itattiag for a few lroaths rrith a wman fro.
.col'orado nae6d Robcca who was writing a
book about Af-an trli],son. She clairned to
charne1 his spirit- she would be there in a
coupl of days aad they were going to get
married. Ee watlted to know if he could
borror, 925 so they could afford to at.

when

I ---t. qr*c to lrir, tb yddiDg rag off .

She'd sto1@ rG dcbootrr'3 rrith A1 Wilsoa
uateri.l 'nd 1sft t@- Ee Erttred ruefully
tbat if sbe rere rea1ly ahrnngfiqg |l
I{iIgoD.'s Blririt, l,rrs,d thi!* she could get
th6 ]rords to the soags rigiht.
Eo BeDt us a box of papr8 to aid iD illr
writing this articLa. It ueighd about 10
pouods, aad wag a raarkable diaaseemblage
of hundrede of randqa uaauscrLpt pagoa,
lettr8 to a.Dd frc6 m-y I,eopl., official
docuaelta, d,rawings, caeic books, tapes, e-d
artLficiel slrtDer packeta. It ]'ooked like
he'd cl.oaned hig roo iato the box- about
txo wek8 after f recaived it, I calrs h@r
9no day to a mssag6 oa ql7 answeriag uachiae
fr@ IleaE B1actrr ood, he said he uuderetood
that I wag ia poeeessioa. of the ouly cogy of
art artLclo t{r. Fahy had crritta, lThe
Origia aDd Eiatory of BluegraaB UaliilitGd
!{agazin6,. Ee rledd it for inclugion in a
book that rr:aa to b Dub1ishod i,miDeDtly- r
spant b.our8 poriag througb th box,a
contetlta, final]'y putting togretber lrhats
seefit8d. to be th desired manuscript- lty t,ask
eraa cqplicated by tbe fact that about
halfway through the DarrEtive, tbo story
sDlit iDto two diroctiona, and uras corrtiauod
on tt.ro aeDarate seguo,1ca of unaunbered
pagelr. I mai1ed it off to Ur- B1acln ood aDCl
chat lra8 the last I evr heard abouts it-

EA$ffiV
The Cul de Sac 1p fiaally

c:rme

out, aad t{r.

Fahey waa protty p].eased rritb it- f

sugrgoated that th elestsric .rock, guitar
I)arts wer too dreadful for word,s, aDd be

agr6ed., but he was in general so happy with

it that he aaid he,d nake aaotheruL"Lra

with tben if tb6 opporturity l>reseatd
itaelf. Not long aft6r tbat conwersatioD,, I
sa.ll an ad in a Seattle rursic paper for a
Ealrey/Cul d6 Sac ahow at a rrideized veDue.
The D6xt tius we sDoke I m8:rtioned it, and
he was obviously aurprised; be,d oaly beea
told there vras to be oae ahocr, ia portlancl,
and the morre he talkod about, it, th6 aDgrier
he got. f lreD,t to the sborr, and lte av6r
sho!'r6d up, whicb annoysd me no ead , not ao
mrcb at not seeing t4r. Fahey p1ay, but at
Irawiag to sit througlr a vory regr6ttabl6 cu1
de Sac set with no payoff. tI6 aaid 1ater
that be had actual].y walked into tho place,
but tbea turad arouad. --d left, becai.rge it
vras . too gay, -

i':'::j' Taylor nna oiiiirii'aiiley

releases. t{ thought
I decided, dasgite bawing lreen assured by
l{r. Faltey that our iDterviev, rraS rthe bat ;i:i. th6 goaps1 aD,d iruka CarrIaa, cds !r6re .ok, .
,:_:1.:.. Ire eaid be bat6d tb Rick BisboD rocord, and.
be'd. ewer done' artrd that I Lad .aaked all
.alright-t)ua](
-:r'.:-t'- thought tb Baa8bolss wer
qusst.ioD.s,,
the right
tllet I needd to
rock
for
adulta,
W6
ir::.t:::
agreed
that the Dock
foIlow up oa at leaat otre subject. I had
aewer really de1ved into what I tbought rrre ',;-.:,'i Bogga rras wild].y overrated, aD'd t'bat it was
s@e Drobably uaanswerable, but trevrtbeless .;i1: incoA>rehenaibla that tb6 far superior
:-Rosco l{ol.cdil, didn,t enjoy tbe sa88
iEtereating, questions. uost, of Ur. Fabey,s
:,:, acclaia. lhen it waa time to go to 1unch.
ursic has for ms and seoiugly rcst
r.;. It'e
akays tim to aat with Ur. Fah6y!
listeners a hug6 6rnotioaa1 irrpace. Ee
Zi.3 S i:E Y':
3tartsd playing hie Ersic at a you.ng age,
11ili;tirilii=i=
-ott"Y
jg
r"h.yi_
a.Dd has coatinued for a very long ti[a,
vrith
ts.:::.:1.,:=*::;:i.:i.i:ii,
"..T'*"'
t'{.
L'-J:',
a rdrarkable coasieteas.lz of artLatic
Eo vraatod to go eat at a particular diner
approach. I waE intorsgted iu asking bin
wbere a waitreEa he waa 'involwd with'
!.bat it r[aaat for bim. What was be tryiBg to
worked. I was aalisted to help him pu1l off
do? 9laa tb.re aDy differeace for hia btsr6oa
a ridiculouE atuat inwolviag balaaciug a
performiag and recording aDdt coqrosition?
glass vage on his bead while gesturiDg for
was thr6 aay Buch thiag as rpure grinitive
tsh check. E had high hopes tbat the yourtg
fom.s' of folk trusic? Eow doag whats he ig
lady would b6 deepLy charned. Sbe waan't. I
doiag coq>are titl. that? what bapgeDs whea a
waa deeply enbarrassad.. I startd in oa lE
3elf -corrscioug acad@Lic/iEta116ctua1 g6ta
discugsion of his arts. (we got sidetracked
iawolwed irx rart,? What didt h6 t aItt to do
into aa argru.mnt ovr whether th6re is aay
rith rm.rsic as a performer? Wbat did he want
emot,j.onal comflonat at a].l to Drek Baily's
frqn rurgic aa a listenr? Eoc, did he think
guitar playiag. (I tbink tber6 is.)) It sort
Cbat t,hat he did aa aa artist cou].d be
of dida't go anlmrbera at a]'l, tnrt here is
coeE)arod, to iIieryr Giuffre? Or Dersk Bailey,
wbat f gath6rd. E6 playa ursic bacause thaE
ry other faworite gruitar l)leyr? ft w"aa all
iE all h can do- be iE too neurotic aad
kiad of vaEJue, but I boped by talkiag
dysfuactiona1. to hold dorrn a 'real' job.
through it we could figure out wltat I was
(eettiugr paid $500O for a day's t,ork on ttte
asking, aad wbat, if a:ry, tha aDserera sere.
eoundtrack for 'The gorae whisprer' does,
h@r6w6r, -bav ita upglde.) IIe plays rnr.reic to
I wnt dowD' to sas hia ia gloodburo, vrbore
non6y- IIe would like wery Erch to mak6
b6,d, Dov6d tb sam w66kend aa the Cul d
a
lot
of lrDDy, buE be dosn'ts want it badly
Sac no-shoar. I walked into a roor fiLled
enqugh to gpend the reat of his life playing
vith th sam litter as before, ovarlaid
th6 eraic the agirg idiots bippi c@I)oneBt
rith a beawy utiasrna of paint fuma- Ee waa
of hia audieace wa.Eta to har. E6 doesn't
heawily iawolwed lrith paiEting, srlall
rea11y hate his oId music, he ttate8 thg
abstract. pictura, soma of wbich f liked
artiatic straitjacket reprsented by it and
very t0ucl.. IIe seemed obliwious to tb fumea,
tbo 6r.I,6ctationa of a close-miaded,
but I wasD.'t, and I auggeatod w go out t.o
Dostalgic audieuce. Who woulda't gt bored
breakfagt before I pasaed out. There I aaw,
playing the sama songs for 3O or {0 yeara?
for th6 first and I hop6 J.ast tilra, aoruone
audiaace tbats bas
Ib,a lzouo.ger, 'aItr[atiwa'
(Hr. Faby, tltat ia) buttr aDd sa].t tbeir
gottea iatere8ted in bis rutsic, tbaDks
eggs AtiID their bacon. Wb.6nver I go out to a
largly to Soaic Youth (which aulrject brings
-raa1 with Ur. Fatrey, the table is euch a
up ite orru qu6stiona about close-ainded
aLiaastar that I feel obliged to Lea,v an
idiotlc willLngmasa to b6 told wbat tso do
i gxcptiollally large t.ip. we etarEed in oa
(youttr againet fascisat ) ), is moro
.tbe uaed record ator6 routine (not ryr idea)
int6r6sted ia heariug hie nevr stuff'
and while lre were in Ehe third st,ore, r
realized tltat, in a]'l tlro 8tore8 vr,d, been
We11, I couldn't argue with any of tbat. It
ia, I had rrvsr otrce seeu him actually buy
was a lot si[qrler Ebaa I 6xpectd. W drov
anythingr. r waa rralking behind trim whea I
to a pharmacy for a gain uedicine
askd, "II@, longf trag it beeo since you found
prascription refil].- ha'd juet bad sona
a@tbing worth buying?, B6 sagged wisibly,
major dental work done, aad was scarfing
and gaid .A long tirrte.- I felt terrible, buts
percs like no otre I'd 6ver aeD. Ibe Mogaic
he recowersd quickly and tb6 cb,age was back
irirulr ciuffre box set had c@re out r6ceat1y,
on- Biag ia record atorss brought up the
and I'd taped tbe wbol6 thirlg for him. Ite
subject of Ravenant. l.{r. Fattcy pret.ty rmrch
was working on att arrangur8D,t of oae of th
disavorrd uost of tb. recordi.D.ga releaasd on
tsu!.ea, and said that' h6'd t'alkd to Dsan
the ].abel, diamiesing it as 'Deao,s thiDg,,
about releasiag sma older Giuffre stuff on
fro whicb he hoped to tnake aqa,6 [rony but
Revaants. I I)layed him ao[rra Digital Ilardcore
was otherwiae not that illterested in. Ile
tracka, and he eurprised ne with his lack of
said ha sirgrly couldn,t undrataBd th6 cecil
enthusiasm for Shizuo, but h likod ATR a

+i ;

lot- we lrsnt back to his rooB, artd listseaed

to sotrlo Charlie Uonroe and looked at a@6
rcre of bia palntinga. I waa balf-aware of
him rooting througb hia bedcovers lookiag
for goething, aadl realized wben I gaw hiu
eating a block of, foil-yrragped euperurarket,
blu ch66ae tshat be'd found it.
III
Th next aurror I wag beaded doyrn Eo BJld
for a couple of days, and atogged in to s6
him. I Dot uIirsa, who sen6d fr5.end1y and
irrtelligeDt and t lro r liked very mrch. Iilr.
Fabey had degcribed ber to lrrs aa a lleldettPackard excutive aDd aa obeeaaiwe Bob Dylan
falr. I thia* ehe iB at Iaae partsly
responsible for the pretty dceut
www.johnfahey.cm web page tbat is 11611
rrorth checking out. I've nover bean vsry
clear rrhat exact].y lhslr relatioaehip ig,
lrut she agreed tbat it yraa iq)ortant to g6t
bi.E bathing ev6ry day, and to make bim
conti.nue going to tbe dsrxti8t. Sbe semad
like a take-ctrarge-ty96 1>rson, and yrl.i16 on
occagion Ur. Fatrey would groan a.nd coq>Iain
about her, I suaDct that sbe ie exact.ly
vrhat h6 wants and needa: a bossy woan wtro
will make him do arhat be Ded8 to do. I bad
tb6 dogs with ms, and eweryon got orr like a
houee afire. I aak6d hia about Eb barking
dog on 'Tran3figuratioE--', but. to u1r disnay,
b couldD't te11 me arrl.Ching about it. Ie
all weat outs to luDch at Burgervilla, wbere
th6 bat vanilla ahakes ewr Bre made, aad
$rbere on6 caa norrally obtain excol16Dt
walla rralla onion rings, but wh6a tbe oBes
ttrey wer makiag tbats day arriwed tbey were
inedible grrasa-soddea l'unq>s of bal-f cooked
dogeh. The dogs arrd ur. F.}'ey loved theo..

-f

.\ -,.G

b&

"a

afterttlath of hls datb. The artlcle 8@sd

to m6 to ba l,oiutlesaly ueaa spirlted in
t,lacas. aloff Bort of talkod ne into feeling
bttr about pritrtiag its, ald I ]'ater aaw ao
many obiEuary-typo ref,erenceg to tlr. traboy
that soeuod to iq>1y that his uaia pur;lose
Lu life waa to be an influaac6 ort Iburston
ltoore tbat I started feeliug rea,l agaia. It
waa ev6a rcre .-'royiDg tbaD th6 kDucLlehead
oa NPR a couDle of yeare rgo rrbo couldn't
tbink of aaytshing to aay about Dsrek Bailey
8cDt that ha was a big iaf].ueace on
Thurston lroore.
Itr. Fah6y was s@sti:traa dascribad aa
uisanthropic. $lhile that cou1d, I auppose,
'b th6 cas6, Lt saa a sido of bln I lavar
rgaw. 8e was alwaye very frieadly, fuanry,
'Datl,eat, and even oagr to Dlaae. Ee waa
a1go one of the goofieet, 8lopgiest, Eost
'nurotic people I bave ov6r eDcouat6r6d. It
e1I part of his very coasialarabl.e cbaIm.
"ras

I.\I

Ttre iaterviewg wbich forfid the basia of

this atory took place ig Salqa abortly aft6!

tha re1as6 of 'City of Refug', and ia
woodburn sooa after !dr. Fahoy's Eove thr.
I dotr't reuember c16ar1y wtrea tbig wag
writtn, tlut it's beerr s while. Ur. Eahey
died on February.22td, ZOOL, aftlrr
uodergoiug poat-hoart-attach bfTrage aurgory.
I don't think aayDn who ever eaw hin eat a
rnoal could have beea aurDrised by his deatb,
but it w"as a sbocking aod sad occurraace
Donethelsss. Soon afton ards, I coatactsd
Itne eaitor of this magaziae and suggest.ed lre
lconeider not printiEg thig articl. I bad a
I couple of reagong for thinking it bst not
'to publi.eb it. Th6r6 were botter written
articles that did a btter job of cowering a
lot of thc aame territory published in the

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